New at the Library

Reviewed: NYT/BR 3 Apr. 2022 p. 11; Economist 2 July 2022 p. 79 (reference).
Description: The L where a tabletop meets the legs, the T between double doors, the D of an armchair’s oval backrest–all around us is an alphabet in things. But how did these shapes make it onto the page, never mind form complex structures such as this sentence? Silvia Ferrara takes a profound look at how–and how many times–human beings have managed to produce the miracle of written language, traveling back and forth in time and all across the globe to Mesopotamia, Crete, China, Egypt, Central America, Easter Island, and beyond. With Ferrara as our guide, we examine the enigmas of undeciphered scripts, including famous cases like the Phaistos Disk and the Voynich Manuscript; we touch the knotted, colored strings of the Inca quipu; we study the turtle shells and ox scapulae that bear the earliest Chinese inscriptions; we watch in awe as Sequoyah single-handedly invents a script for the Cherokee language; and we venture to the cutting edge of decipherment, in which high-powered laser scanners bring tears to an engineer’s eye. (publ.)

Reviewed: TLS 10 Sept. 2021 p. 24.
Description: Perhaps you’re reading a book and stop to puzzle over absurd spelling rules (Why are there so many ways to say “-gh”?), or you hear someone talking and get stuck on an expression (Why do we say “How dare you” but not “How try you”?), or your kid quizzes you on homework (Why is it “eleven and twelve” instead of “oneteen and twoteen”?). Suddenly you ask yourself, “Wait, why do we do it this way?” You think about it, try to explain it, and keep running into walls. It doesn’t conform to logic. It doesn’t work the way you'd expect it to. There doesn’t seem to be any rule at all. There might not be a logical explanation, but there will be an explanation, and this book is here to help.

Description: The punctuation marks, mathematical symbols and glyphs which haunt the edges of our keyboards have evolved over many hundreds of years. They shape our understanding of texts, calculations and online interactions. Without these symbols all texts would run in endless unbroken lines of letters and numbers. Many hands and minds have created, refined and promulgated the symbols which give form to our written communication. Through individual entries discussing the story behind each example, Hyphens & Hashtags reveals the long road many of these special characters have taken on their way into general use. In the digital age of communication, some symbols have gained an additional meaning or a new lease of life–the colon now doubles up as the eyes of a smiling face emoticon and the hashtag has traveled from obscurity to an essential component of social media. Alongside historical roots, this book also considers ever-evolving modern usage and uncovers those symbols which have now fallen out of fashion. (publ.)

Reviewed: LR Feb. 2022 p. 42; LRB 7 Apr. 2022 p. 29; Economist 21 May 2022 p. 82.
Description: After a meteoric rise, China today is one of the world’s most powerful nations. Just a century ago, it was a crumbling empire, with literacy reserved for the elite few. Jing Tsu argues that China’s greatest and most daunting challenge was a linguistic one. Just as important as China’s technological and industrial advances and political maneuvers was the century-long fight to make the Chinese language–with its many dialects and complex character-based script–accessible to the modern world of global trade and digital technology. Kingdom of Characters follows the bold and cunning innovators who adapted the Chinese language to a world defined by the West and its alphabet: the exiled reformer who risked a death sentence to advocate for Mandarin as a national language, the Chinese Muslim poet who laid the groundwork for Chairman Mao’s phonetic writing system, the imprisoned computer engineer who devised input codes for Chinese characters on the lid of a tea cup, among others. Without the advances they enabled, China might never have become the dominating force we know today. The revolution of the Chinese script is just as breathtaking as China’s transformation into a capitalist juggernaut, in large part because those linguistic innovations literally enabled China's reinvention. (publ.)

Reviewed: TLS 20 Aug. 2021 p. 28; LR Aug. 2021 p. 41; TLS 26 Nov. 2021 p. 9 (Books of the Year)
Description: A linguist examines the realms of language that are considered shocking and taboo in order to understand what imbues curse words with such power (and why we love them so much).

Reviewed: NYRB 13 May 2021 p. 56 (referenced)
Description: In 1799, a French officer was clearing debris from a military installation when he discovered a stele bearing three scripts: ancient Greek, hieroglyphic, and a third that could not be definitively identified. This artifact, which came to be known as the Rosetta Stone, has traditionally played the starring role in the history of decipherment, which has until now been understood as an instance of code-breaking, a kind of Bletchley Park avant la lettre. Buchwald and Josefowicz delve into a wide array of British and French sources as well as archival material to produce a comprehensive new history of the decipherment. More than a puzzle-solving exercise based on a single artifact, the decipherment engaged with the era’s social, cultural and intellectual contexts. It grew in the midst of heated disputes about language, historical evidence, the status of the Bible, the nature of polytheism, and the importance of classical learning. Jean-François Champollion in France and his British rival, the medical doctor and polymath Thomas Young, approached the decipherment from different standpoints derived from their contrasting temperaments, educational experiences, and attitudes to antiquity. Imbued with reverence for Greek culture and raised a Quaker, Young disdained Egyptian culture and saw Egyptian writing principally as a way to uncover new knowledge about Greco-Roman antiquity. To him, the decipherment was akin to a challenge posed by a problem in mathematics or science. Champollion’s altogether different motivations and attitude unfolded amidst the political chaos of Restoration France, in fierce response to the intrigues of opposing scholars aligned with throne and altar. Unlike Young, Champollion admired ancient Egypt, and this sympathy, coupled with his willingness to upend conventional wisdom about the enigmatic Egyptian signs, freed him to travel a path down which Young refused to go. A remarkable intellectual adventure reaching from the filthy back streets of Georgian London to the hushed lecture rooms of the Institut de France, from the forgotten byways of provincial France to the splendor of the Valley of the Kings, this book reveals the decipherment in its full historical complexity. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 24 June 2019 p. 164.
Description: Our language is changing, literary levels are declining, and our grasp of grammar is at a crisis point. From commas to colons, apostrophes to adverbs, there are countless ways we can make mistakes when writing or speaking. But do not despair! Great Britain’s most popular grammar guru has created the ultimate modern manual for English speakers on both sides of the Atlantic. In this brilliantly funny and accessible guide to proper punctuation and so much more, Gyles Brandreth explores the linguistic horrors of our times, tells us what we've been doing wrong and shows us how, in the future, we can get it right every time. Covering everything from dangling participles to transitive verbs, from age-old conundrums like “lay” vs. “lie,” to the confounding influences of social media on our everyday language, this is an endlessly useful and entertaining resource for all. (publ.)

Reviewed: NYT/BR 15 Nov. 2020 p. 14; TLS 9 July 2021 p. 12.
Description: Centuries ago in middle Europe, a coded language appeared, scrawled in graffiti and spoken only by people who were “wiz” (in the know)–vagrants and refugees, merchants and thieves. This hybrid language was rich in expressions for police, jail, or experiencing trouble, such as “being in a pickle.” And beginning with Martin Luther, German Protestants who disliked its speakers wanted to stamp it out. The Nazis hated it most of all. As a boy, Martin Puchner learned this secret language through his father and uncle. Only as an adult did he discover, through a poisonous 1930s tract on Jewish names, that his own grandfather, an historian and archivist, had been a committed Nazi who hated everything his sons and grandsons loved about “the language of thieves.” Interweaving family memoir with scholarship and an adventurous foray into the politics of language, Puchner crafts an entirely original journey narrative. In a language born of migration and hybridity, he discovers a witty and resourceful spirit of tolerance that remains essential today. (publ.)

Description: Banter, chit-chat, gossip, natter, tete-a-tete: these are just a few of the terms for the varied ways in which we interact with one another through conversation. David Crystal explores the factors that motivate so many different kinds of talk and reveals the rules we use unconsciously, even in the most routine exchanges of everyday conversation. We tend to think of conversation as something spontaneous, instinctive, habitual. It has been described as an art, as a game, sometimes even as a battle. Whichever metaphor we use, most people are unaware of what the rules are, how they work, and how we can bend and break them when circumstances warrant it. (publ.)

Reviewed: Economist 5 Oct. 2019 p. 78 (referenced).
Description: Once upon a time, the worst words you could utter were short, simple and tended to be four letters in length. Now things are more complicated. To be insulted as a “snowflake” or an “expert” is arguably worse than being called a **** or a **** or even a ****. So what are today’s “bad words” and how are they different from yesterday’s taboo expressions? This entertaining guide to the shifting sands of bad language is indispensable in an increasingly divided world in which abuse becomes ever more widespread and vituperative. Gooden shows how and why taboo words and contentious expressions, including those four-letter ones, were first used in English. He discusses the ways such words have changed over the years and explores how a single syllable or two may possess an almost magical power to offend, distress or infuriate. The author investigates the most controversial and provocative words in the English language in a way that is both anecdotal and analytical. Combining intrigue and scandal, the book delves into expressions connected to religion, ethnicity, nationality, politics, swearing and oaths, and includes contemporary issues like political correctness and elitism. (publ.)

Reviewed: Economist 20 July 2019 p. 70; NYT/BR 1 Sept. 2019 p. 13; LR Dec./Jan. 2020 p. 57.
Description: Language is humanity’s most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What’s more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer “LOL” or “lol,” why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and dog-go made them more likely to spread. (publ.)

Reviewed: LR July 2019 p. 47; TLS 6 Mar. 2020 p. 9.
Description: English professor Peter Martin recounts the patriotic fervor in the early American republic to produce a definitive national dictionary that would rival Samuel Johnson’s 1755 Dictionary of the English Language. But what began as a cultural war of independence from Britain devolved into a battle among lexicographers, authors, scholars, and publishers, all vying for dictionary supremacy and shattering forever the dream of a unified American language. The overwhelming questions in the dictionary wars involved which and whose English was truly American and whether a dictionary of English should attempt to be American at all, independent from Britain. Martin tells the human story of the intense rivalry between America’s first lexicographers, Noah Webster and Joseph Emerson Worcester, who fought over who could best represent the soul and identity of American culture. Webster believed an American dictionary, like the American language, ought to be informed by the nation’s republican principles, but Worcester thought that such language reforms were reckless and went too far. Their conflict continued beyond Webster’s death, when the ambitious Merriam brothers acquired publishing rights to Webster’s American Dictionary and launched their own language wars. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 14 Oct. 2019 p. 58.
Description: Everyone likes to think they know a bit about language: There are some words that you simply can’t translate into English. The origin of a word tells you how it should be used. A dialect is inferior to a language. The problem is, none of these statements are true. Linguist David Shariatmadari explodes nine common myths about language and introduces us to some of the fundamental insights of modern linguistics. By the end of this eye-opening tour, readers will understand that grammatical “errors” are in fact the foundation of modern English; that the meaning of a word is not what a dictionary says, but how it's used; and that the difference between what gets labelled a “language” or “dialect” is political, rather than scientific. This book offers an accessible and thorough introduction to the science behind one of the most essential aspects of our daily life. (publ.)

Description: All humans, but no other species, have the capacity to create and under-stand language. It provides structure to our thoughts, allowing us to plan, communicate, and create new ideas, without limit. Yet we have only finite experiences, and our languages have finite stores of words. Where does our linguistic creativity come from? How does the endless scope of language emerge from our limited selves? Drawing on research from neuro-science, psychology, and linguistics, David Adger takes the reader on a journey to the hidden structure behind all we say (or sign) and understand. Along the way you’ll meet children who created language out of almost nothing, and find out how new languages emerge using structures found in languages spoken continents away. David Adger will show you how the more than 7000 languages in the world appear to obey the same deep scientific laws, how to invent a language that breaks these, and how our brains go crazy when we try to learn languages that just aren’t possible. You'll discover why rats are better than we are at picking up certain language patterns, why apes are far worse at others, and how artificial intelligences, such as those behind Alexa and Siri, understand language in a very unhuman way. (publ.)

Reviewed: NYT/BR 2 Feb. 2020 p. 12; PW 14 Oct. 2019 p. 59.
Description: The story of how we got from he and she to zie and hir and singular they. Like trigger warnings and gender-neutral bathrooms, pronouns are suddenly sparking debate, prompting new policies in schools, workplaces, even prisons, about what pronouns to use. Colleges ask students to declare their pronouns; corporate conferences print nametags with space for people to add their pronouns; email signatures sport pronouns along with names and titles. Far more than a byproduct of campus politics or culture wars, gender-neutral pronouns are in fact nothing new. Renowned linguist Dennis Baron puts them in historical context, demonstrating that Shakespeare used singular they; that women evoked the generic use of he to assert the right to vote (while those opposed to women’s rights invoked the same word to assert that he did not include she), and that self-appointed language experts have been coining new gender pronouns, not just hir and zie but hundreds more, like thon, ip, and em, for centuries. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 10 Dec. 2018 p. 104.
Description: In the 1970s, the behavioral psychologist Herbert S. Terrace led a remark-able experiment to see if a chimpanzee could be taught to use language. A young ape, named “Nim Chimpsky” in a nod to the linguist whose theories Terrace challenged, was raised by a family in New York and instructed in American Sign Language. Initially, Terrace thought that Nim could create sentences but later discovered that Nim’s teachers inadvertently cued his signing. Terrace concluded that Project Nim failed–not because Nim couldn’t create sentences but because he couldn’t even learn words. Language is a uniquely human quality, and attempting to find it in animals is wishful thinking at best. The failure of Project Nim meant we were no closer to understanding where language comes from. (publ.)

Description: Why do we speak the way we do, and what do our voices tell others about us? What is the truth behind the myths that surround how we speak? Jane Setter explores these and other fascinating questions in this engaging introduction to the power and the science of the voice. The book first takes us on a tour of the sounds in our language and how we produce them, as well as how and why those sounds vary in different varieties of English. The origins of our vast range of accents are explained, along with the prejudices associated with them: why do we feel such loyalty to our own ac-cent, and what’s behind our attitudes to others? … Throughout the book, Professor Setter draws on examples from the media and from her own professional and personal experience. (publ.)

Reviewed: Economist 2 Mar. 2019 p. 71; NPR “Fresh Air” (5 Feb. 2019); TLS 29 Nov. 2019 p. 12--2019 Book of the Year.
Description: We all write, all the time: books, blogs, emails. Lots and lots of emails. And we all want to write better. Benjamin Dreyer is here to help. As Random House’s copy chief, Dreyer has upheld the standards of the legendary publisher for more than two decades. He is beloved by authors and editors alike–not to mention his followers on social media–for deconstructing the English language with playful erudition. Now he distills everything he has learned from the myriad books he has copyedited and overseen into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best prose foot forward. As authoritative as it is amusing, Dreyer’s English offers lessons on punctuation, from the underloved semicolon to the enigmatic en dash; the rules and nonrules of grammar, including why it’s OK to begin a sentence with “And” or “But” and to confidently split an infinitive; and why it’s best to avoid the doldrums of the Wan Intensifiers and Throat Clearers, including “very,” “rather,” “of course,” and the dreaded “actually.” Dreyer will let you know whether “alright” is all right (sometimes) and even help you brush up on your spelling–though, as he notes, “The problem with mnemonic devices is that I can never remember them.” And yes: “Only godless savages eschew the series comma.” (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 18 June 2018 p. 94.
Description: If you have trouble distinguishing the verbs imitate and emulate, the relative pronouns that and which, or the adjectives pliant, pliable, and supple, never fear–this book is here to help! With more than 500 headwords, the book is replete with advice on how to differentiate commonly confused words and steer clear of verbal trouble. (publ.)

Reviewed: Economist 22 Sept. 2018 p. 78 (referenced)
Description: Statistician and journalist Ben Blatt brings big data to the literary canon, exploring the wealth of fun findings that remain hidden in the works of the world’s greatest writers. He assembles a database of thousands of books and hundreds of millions of words, and starts asking the questions that have intrigued curious word nerds and book lovers for generations: What are our favorite authors’ favorite words? Do men and women write differently? Do writers have their own stylistic footprint? Are bestsellers get-ting dumber over time? Which bestselling writer uses the most clichés? What makes a great opening sentence? How can we judge a book by its cover? And which writerly advice is worth following or ignoring? Blatt draws upon existing analysis techniques and invents some of his own. All of his investigations and experiments are original, conducted himself, and no math knowledge is needed to understand the results. Blatt breaks his findings down into lucid, humorous language and clear and compelling visuals. This eye-opening book will provide you with a new appreciation for your favorite authors and a fresh perspective on your own writing, illuminating both the patterns that hold great prose together and the brilliant flourishes that make it unforgettable. (publ.)

Description: The English language is rich with eponyms–words that are named after an individual–some better known than others. This book features 150 of the most interesting and enlightening specimens, delving into the origins of the words and describing the fascinating people after whom they were named. Eponyms are derived from numerous sources. Some are named in honor of a style icon, inventor or explorer, such as pompadour, Kalashnikov and Cadillac. Others have their roots in Greek or Roman mythology, such as panic and tantalize. A number of eponyms, however, are far from celebratory and were created to indicate a rather less positive association–into this category can be filed boycott, Molotov cocktail and sadist. Encompassing eponyms from medicine, botany, invention, science, fashion, food and literature, this book uncovers the intriguing tales of discovery, mythology, innovation and infamy behind the eponyms we use every day. (publ.)

Description: Lozano reveals the origins of Spanish as a language binding residents of the Southwest to the politics and culture of an expanding nation in the 1840s. As the West increasingly integrated into the United States over the following century, struggles over power, identity, and citizenship transformed the place of the Spanish language in the nation. An American Language is a history that reimagines what it means to be an American–with profound implications for our own time. (publ.)

Reviewed: WSJ 23 June 2017 p. A13; Economist 12 Aug. 2017 p. 66; NYT/BR 27 Aug. 2017 p. 34.
Description: Reporter Joe Berkowitz investigates the world of pun competitions, and “low wit in its highest form” (WSJ).

Reviewed: NPR 3 Aug. 2017 “Our Critic Doesn't Entirely <3 The Emoji Code”; TLS 22 Sept. 2017 p. 27.
Description: Charts the evolutionary origins of language, the social and cultural factors that govern the use, change, and development of Emojis; as well as what it reveals about the human mind. (publ.)

Reviewed: Economist 7 Oct. 2017 p. 88
Description: Language began, Everett theorizes, with Homo Erectus, who catalyzed words through culturally invented symbols. Early humans, as their brains grew larger, incorporated gestures and voice intonations to communicate, all of which built on each other for 60,000 generations. Tracing crucial shifts and developments across the ages, Everett breaks down every component of speech, from harnessing control of more than a hundred respiratory muscles in the larynx and diaphragm, to mastering the use of the tongue. Moving on from biology to execution, Everett explores why elements such as grammar and storytelling are not nearly as critical to language as one might suspect. (publ.)

Reviewed: The Economist 16 Dec. 2017 p. 78 (article reference)
Description: We all had teachers who scolded us over the use of um, uh-huh, oh, like, and mm-hmm. But as linguist N. J. Enfield reveals, these “bad words” are fundamental to language. Whether we are speaking with the clerk at the store, our boss, or our spouse, language is dependent on things as commonplace as a rising tone of voice, an apparently meaningless word, or a glance-signals so small that we hardly pay them any conscious attention. Nevertheless, they are the essence of how we speak. From the traffic signals of speech to the importance of um, How We Talk revolutionizes our understanding of conversation. In the process, Enfield reveals what makes language universally–and uniquely–human. (publ.)

Description: Behind every punctuation mark lies a thousand stories. The punctuation of English, marked with occasional rationality, is founded on arbitrariness and littered with oddities. For a system of a few dozen marks it generates a disproportionate degree of uncertainty and passion, inspiring organizations like the Apostrophe Protection Society and sending enthusiasts, correction-pens in hand, in a crusade against error across the United States. Professor Crystal leads us through this minefield with characteristic wit, clarity, and commonsense. (publ.)

Reviewed: TLS 20 Apr. 2018 p. 7; NYT/BR 17 June 2018 p. 21; Economist 19 Oct. 2019 p. 82 (referenced).
Description: An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English. … Murphy explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, she unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language. (publ.)

Reviewed: TLS 1 Dec. 2017 p. 38.
Description: Are we [i.e., some British dude] tired of hearing that fall is a season, sick of being offered fries and told about the latest movie? Yeah. Have we noticed the sly interpolation of Americanisms into our everyday speech? You betcha. And are we outraged? Hell, yes. But do we do anything? Too much hassle. Until now. (publ.)

Reviewed: The Economist 24 June 2017 p. 76 (referenced)
Description: Do women talk more than men? Does text messaging make you stupid? Can chimpanzees really talk to us? This fascinating book addresses a wide range of language myths, focusing on important big-picture issues such as the rule-governed nature of language or the influence of social factors on how we speak. Case studies and analysis of relevant experiments teach readers the skills to become informed consumers of social science research, while suggested open-ended exercises invite students to reflect further on what they've learned. (publ.)

Reviewed: Choice Feb 2017 vol. 54 no. 6 (Essential; Recommended for Community College Libraries); The Economist 21 Sept. 2019 (referenced).

Reviewed: TLS 14 Oct. 2016 p. 34; NYT/BR 21 May 2017 p. 32

Reviewed: TLS 21 Apr. 2017 p. 33

Series Information: Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics.
Reviewed: CHE 13 Jan 2017; TLS 22 Sept. 2017 p. 27.
Description: Looks at what is officially the world's fastest-growing form of communication. Emoji, the colourful symbols and glyphs that represent everything from frowning disapproval to red-faced shame, are fast becoming embedded into digital communication. Controlled by a centralized body and regulated across the web, emoji seems to be a language: but is it? (publ.)

Reviewed: TLS 21 Apr. 2017 p. 33; PW 30 Oct. 2017 (Best Books of 2017).
Description: While most of us might take dictionaries for granted, the process of writing dictionaries is in fact as lively and dynamic as language itself. With sharp wit and irreverence, Kory Stamper cracks open the complex, obsessive world of lexicography, from the agonizing decisions about what and how to define, to the knotty questions of usage in an ever-changing language. She explains why the small words are the most difficult to define, how it can take nine months to define a single word, and how our biases about language and pronunciation can have tremendous social influence.
Note: Kory Stamper is featured guest speaker at 2017 Iowa Library Association (ILA) annual conference in October 18-20, 2017 (Coralville).